


lucky kid

by sad_goomy



Series: Lonashipping Week 2019 [5]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, F/M, Flirting, Lonashipping, Lonashipping Week 2019, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fic, Single Parents, mahinashipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-11 16:23:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19930999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sad_goomy/pseuds/sad_goomy
Summary: Gladion never imagined he'd go to a support group for single parents, and he definitely didn't imagine meeting someone like Moon there.





	lucky kid

Gladion is a good dad, and good dads don’t need to go to single parent support groups. 

Right? 

But it’s been over a year since the divorce, and he still isn’t used to just being the “weekend dad” and the few parent friends he does have can only smile and listen when he mutters about things like joint custody. It might be a nice change of pace to be surrounded by people who understand, who don’t give him pitiful eyes at the mere mention of the word “divorce,” who just generally _get it_. 

Oddly enough, Kahili was the one who suggested it when she was dropping Koa off at his house last Friday. When he asked what she was up to, awkwardly casual, he hadn’t expected his ex-wife to shrug and respond, “I’m taking my support group golfing.” 

Which spiraled into Gladion asking several questions, Kahili giving a few suggestions before her phone buzzed and she headed out, and his son overhearing the whole thing and asking with wide, innocent green eyes, “What’s therapy?” 

No one ever told him how to explain counseling to a seven-year-old, but then it’s been one of the many oddities of parenting he’s discovered over the years. One of the many oddities that he’s found he’s surprisingly good at handling. For all the teasing he received when Kahili was pregnant about whether or not he’d actually make a good dad, he’s confident that he is. Sure, there are better and worse days, but overall, he thinks he’s doing well and Koa is turning out to be a great kid, quiet but full of curiosity and compassion. 

Gladion’s certainly doing better than his mother did with him. 

Maybe he doesn’t need to be here after all. He makes his mind up to leave, to forget all about this just when a voice interrupts his thoughts. 

“Are you here for the support group?” 

He turns to see who’s spotted him just standing in the hallway of Melemele’s Community Center like an idiot on a Thursday evening, and it’s possibly the prettiest woman he’s seen in his life. 

She smiles at him, an amused twinkle in her gray eyes as he flusters and swallows hard. Though she’s at least a foot shorter than him, she carries herself like she’s twice his height, and the freckles across her skin seem like maps of constellations. 

Maybe he’ll sit in on this session after all. 

He clears his throat, straightening up as he replies, “I am. I’m, uh, not entirely sure why I haven’t gone in yet.” 

It’s a stupid thing to say, and he immediately knows that it’s a stupid thing to say, but she only gives a small chuckle. “Want to go in together? If we stay out here much longer, we’ll miss out on all the free cookies.” 

“If I’d known there would be free cookies, I would’ve gone in a lot sooner.” 

A lie, but a charming one that gets a bright laugh out of her. There’s a flutter of something soft in Gladion’s stomach, and some part of him realizes that for the first time in a long time he might just be developing a crush. 

They walk in side by side, and he sees a small room with a buffet table of snacks off to the side and a circle of chairs in the center. A few parents are up and grabbing punch and cookies, others have taken a seat and are chatting amongst themselves. There aren’t too many familiar faces, although he suspects that at least some are parents to other kids at Melemele Elementary. He’s only picked Koa up from school a few times, when Kahili was in a bind, so he vaguely recognizes one of the dads and two of the moms, but other than that it’s essentially a room full of strangers (which has always been his least favorite place to be). 

He gravitates towards the side, deciding to busy his hands with pouring a glass of iced tea. The woman who walked in with him watches before picking up a sugar cookie, nodding as she tells him, “Good choice.” 

“The punch looked a little too artificially red.” They share another smile, and as she bites down into her cookie, Gladion holds out a hand. “I realize I haven’t even introduced myself – I'm Gladion.” 

“Moon.” She shakes his hand, fingers lingering for just a moment. She finishes off her cookie, but before she can say something else, the support group leader gently calls for everyone’s attention. 

They take their seats, and Gladion forces himself to focus on the others in the circle, listening as his first official group therapy session begins. 

* * *

Unfortunately, Moon proves to be incredibly distracting. 

Throughout the evening, the two of them end up turning to each other to exchange looks or side comments. More often than not, Gladion has to hide a smile, and he feels almost like he’s back in high school, trying to get a girl’s attention the only way he knows how: sarcasm. 

If their shameless flirting is distracting to anyone else, they don’t show it as the group goes around, parents bringing up various concerns – a rebellious teen, work-life balance – and others listening or chiming in with suggestions and affirmations. At one point, one of the older dads sheepishly brings up that he’s getting back into dating and it takes all Gladion has not to immediately turn and look at Moon. 

He’s at least gotten better about being so obvious since high school. 

Overall, it’s nice, and Gladion finds himself enjoying it even without Moon’s attention (although there’s no question he’s enjoying that). Everyone here seems to be in a similar place as him: competent, but well aware that there’s no instruction manual for parenting and just hoping that other people will commiserate. 

The counselor opens up the conversation for the next question, and Moon slowly raises her hand. She gives a half-smile to the rest of the group, and Gladion subconsciously edges forward in his seat as she begins. “My son, Sterling, is going to his first sleepover next week. I’m just feeling a little nervous. I know it’ll be good for him, and he’s so excited, but he’s never stayed somewhere else overnight. I’ve also met his friend’s mother before, but the sleepover is happening at the father’s house, so I have no idea what to expect.” 

As the mom next to Moon begins to tell her how she went through the same thing with her twin daughters, Gladion completely zones out for the first time, because he’s just realized two very important things. 

First, that Moon is the mother of Koa’s best friend. 

Second, that the sleepover she’s talking about is the same one Koa begged him to have at his house. 

He blinks, coming back to the room just as the older dad from earlier gives his advice about sitting down with the child to make sure appropriate phone numbers are memorized and they know that they can call at any time. 

And Gladion sees a very strange opportunity present itself. 

He raises his hand in the ensuing quiet moment. 

“I find it helpful to meet with the parent before,” he tells Moon, looking at her with a smirk tugging at his lips. She only listens, the others in the group nodding along as he explains, “It might be best to reach out and meet with the father, just to get to know him and let him know your anxieties. Just a quick conversation is fine, maybe over coffee or even dinner.” 

She tilts her head, considering his words. For a second, it looks like she might have him figured out, but she hums and nods and then another parent is sharing their advice. 

Eventually, the hour comes to an end and the counselor bids them all a good week as parents help themselves to more cookies or slowly filter out of the room. 

Moon and Gladion stand at the same time, and he realizes he doesn’t quite want to leave yet. Still, they both walk towards the exit, away from the crowd, before Moon turns to him. 

“You give some pretty solid advice,” she tells him earnestly, though he doesn’t miss the way she indulges her gaze in traveling across him. 

He chuckles. “I also throw pretty solid sleepovers.” 

She’s quick on the uptake and confusion melts into realization as her eyes widen. “And I’m an idiot.” She shakes her head, looking up at him with a spark in her eyes. “Now it’s so obvious that you’re Koa’s dad – you look so similar.” 

“How so?” 

Her lips quirk, and steps just a hair closer, and Gladion feels at least ten years younger with how his palms sweat and his breath catches. 

“He has your eyes, the lucky kid.” 

_I think I_ _might be the_ _lucky one._ He doesn’t say it, but she must pick up on it all the same because Moon’s grin grows wider as a blush travels across her freckled cheeks. Gladion clears his throat, stepping closer to her, purely to get further out of the way of the exit (and definitely not because she smells like honeysuckle). 

“So,” he mumbles, scratching the back of his neck and raising a brow as he asks, “Dinner or coffee? Unless you’re already feeling better about the sleepover.” 

She laughs and the flutter is back in Gladion’s chest. “No, I think I should still vet you. How about we start with coffee, and if the sleepover lives up to expectations, I treat you to dinner?” 

And Gladion decides this is going to be Koa’s best sleepover yet. 

**Author's Note:**

> and here's the fic for the family prompt! ended up sort of making some fan kids in the process which was a fun bonus
> 
> (little do Gladion and Moon know, but Koa and Sterling have been plotting for months to figure out how to get their parents together so that they can be brothers)


End file.
